This invention relates generally to systems for delivering promotional and other information to consumers who shop in retail establishments and, more particularly to systems for delivering incentives and related information to consumers via a computer network that links the consumers to network sites provided by product retailers and by product manufacturers. The invention is disclosed in the context of the supermarket packaged goods industry, but it will be appreciated as this description proceeds that the invention also has application in other contexts.
In the packaged goods industry, a relatively small number of major manufacturers supply goods to a much larger number of retailers throughout the country. Both the manufacturers and the retailers have a need to communicate to consumers with respect to currently offered “special” or “deal” items that are available in selected areas. The goals of the manufacturers and retailers in this regard are similar and sometimes overlapping, but are not usually identical. Manufacturers may wish to offer incentives in the form of discount coupons, rebates, free samples, contests, sweepstakes and so forth, and may also wish to distribute product information, recipes, questionnaires and surveys, audio messages, and other forms of advertising. Retailers, on the other hand, may wish to offer price markdowns for specific manufacturers' products, or may also wish to distribute advertising information pertaining to the retailers' special features being offered. Manufacturers' offers are typically national in scope, whereas retailers' specials are generally local to a specific geographical region.
There is a trend toward the establishment of Internet sites by both manufacturers and retailers of packaged goods. Each such site or “Web page” provides a wealth of information about a specific manufacturer of retailer, and also provides an alternative way of distributing incentive and advertising information to consumers who also have access to a computer network. Traditional channels for the distribution of incentive offers and other forms of advertising are the newspaper, magazine, television and radio media. Of these, the print media provide the most common and familiar way of distributing advertising and incentives in the form of discount coupons, free samples, and the like. Discount coupons may also be distributed in retail stores, either from kiosks or at the checkout stand in response to the consumer's purchase of some preselected item or items. The latter technique is well documented in prior patents issued to the same assignee as the present application; e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,212, “Method and Apparatus for Dispensing Discount Coupons.”
Although a consumer may locate any manufacturer's offers or retailer's product “specials” by exploring each of the manufacturers' and retailers' computer Web sites, most consumers will not have ready access to all of these sites and will not normally be motivated to search for special product deals or other promotions in this manner. One possible solution is to provide a central cooperative network site having a database of retailer specials and manufacturer offers. Once connected to the cooperative site, the consumer can locate retailer specials and manufacturer offers available in a selected geographical area, designated by postal code. A drawback to this approach is that establishment and maintenance of the cooperative site must be well advertised to attract a large number of consumers, but retailers and manufacturers are understandably reluctant to promote a cooperative central site that will potentially provide consumers with information about competitive retailers or competitive manufacturers' products. Accordingly, there has been a trend toward the establishment of independent network sites for both manufacturers and retailers. While this trend is understandable, since it addresses the need for each manufacturer to provide information about its own products, and for each retailer to identify its own special deals, an arrangement of multiple, completely independent network sites for manufacturers and retailers does not efficiently deliver information to a large number of consumers.
It will be appreciated, therefore, that there is still need for improvement in the manner in which incentives, promotions and other information are delivered to consumers outside of the environment of a retail store. The present invention addresses this need.